I quite like the industrial feel to it, the abundant use of metal structural elements, coupled with bricks and stone textures, I think thats a great way to go. I particularly like the second image, with the galley there, I really like the scale of it, big, but not sparse...

As for the water, this is the one you want (in fact, this should ALWAYS be used for any water, in any map, ever (Im not joking))

Actually, I improved it by adding animated texture. Here's a download link. It's actually 2 shaders. One for reflection and one for refraction. When using real time reflections it's best to hide player's model.

Can that be added to the core assets somehow? I agree with RPGista that it should be the default reflective water.

I beleive that was the plan and I dont see why not, I can look into this if you like?

@Arturus, the map from the above archive is missing some resources (texture for the terrain) and ambient world light, but all the files for the water are there. The only issue I can see with this the player_nodraw.skin, will this effect the players arms and weapons in-game?

Actually, I improved it by adding animated texture. Here's a download link. It's actually 2 shaders. One for reflection and one for refraction. When using real time reflections it's best to hide player's model.

Oh? For some reason I thought it was already added to the core mod. Should definitely be the default in water usage. Though I'm wanting to create larger waves in my current project, (like the oceanic based demo you made) this is still a worthy addition for standing water.

@Arturus, the map from the above archive is missing some resources (texture for the terrain) and ambient world light, but all the files for the water are there. The only issue I can see with this the player_nodraw.skin, will this effect the players arms and weapons in-game?

I added material for the ground. Here's the new link. I'm pretty sure there is a light? As for nodraw skin, I use it because player's reflection is ugly. It doesn't affect arms and weapons. There's one element of the player model still visible in the reflection, probably the hood. I'm sure there is an easier way to make the player reflection invisible?

Couple of things you have to consider when using real time reflections: they are buggy sometimes and they are computationally expensive. Also you need two surfaces with two different shaders: one for reflection and one for refraction right above the first. The second one uses a large set of tga textures which may also affect the performance. For the reflection, one can use cubemaps instead of real reflections but they don't look that good without parallax correction.

What's in the foreseeable to do list for the 2.06 update? Taking care of crashes, missing features or adding as much as possible and planned beforehand?

According to the bugtracker, lots of issues have nobody assigned to them since Steve went AWOL.

What will be delayed and what is planned to be done?

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

This may be beyond the scope of the engine, however - if i were to set a small stream running downhill into a lake (eg, mesh into brush), it is very difficult to create a realistic swash where the waters meet - that is, that the ripples continue.

For "placid" surfaces this is fine, but for dynamic surfaces (eg, where moving water must hit a bank or rock in its path), the current decals can be fiddly to disguise the fact that it is nothing more than gently moving water given the illusion of speed by the splash created.

(this is especially apparant underwater where the two mesh/brushes can be seen to intersect, especially if different colours...)

In most instances it is fine, but for, eg, a waterfall or storm-drain exit - there is no swash.

The water is does look very good and it would be great to see this as standard.

It depends on the resolution of the reflectionmap (if you are using one). You could create a custom version of the water shader with a higher res, but that will likely cause some performance problems. Or you apply an additional blur stage to it so it isn't that obvious. Texture scale might also be a way to influencce the appearence.

Having added some stalls and clutter, I think the scale is fine and pretty much what I was going for. I was just in Pisa and Florence and there were quite a few similar arched marketplaces, with the iron bar supports between the arches. I must have had that style in mind!